Google Maps, Now On The NES

September 2, 2021 by Lewin Day 8 Comments

Many years ago, Google created one of its famous April Fools jokes suggesting it would make an 8-bit version of Google Maps for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. [ciciplusplus] decided it needed to become a reality, however, and set to work. (Video, embedded below.)

It’s a suitably blocky, low-resolution implementation, but it nevertheless is a mapping app running on an NES. Zooming in and out is via the A and B buttons, while the D-pad is used to scroll. Country and city labels are rendered on the map in the relevant areas in a charming old-school font.

The project uses a Raspberry Pi 3A+ and a Cypress Semiconductor FX2LP microcontroller, which fits inside a NES cartridge. It works the same way as the earlier NES Doom project which uses the Raspberry Pi to feed data to the NES’s Picture Processing Unit. It’s achieved with a simple bit of code burned on a ROM inside the cartridge, which boots up the NES and primes it to receive data from the Raspberry Pi via the FX2LP.

In current form, it’s not capable of doing much more than allowing the user to scroll around and zoom in on parts of the map. We’d love to see a fully-fledged version that could deliver driving directions or similar, however. If you end up achieving such a feat, be sure to let us know. Continue reading “Google Maps, Now On The NES” →

Thrashed, Damaged NES Controller Gets Brought Back To Life

August 11, 2021 by Lewin Day 6 Comments

Electronics might as well be a magical black box to some people. Where some would see a broken NES controller destined for the bin, [Taylor] saw the opportunity for a repair. Thus, the damaged hardware was brought back into useful service.

The controller was bought as part of a job lot, and was heavily damaged when it entered [Taylor]’s ownership. Nintendo built its hardware tough in those days, but the controller had nevertheless been smashed apart, with the case cracked and split and the PCB itself snapped in two.

For someone with basic electronics skills, though, repair was simple. The broken PCB was glued back together with epoxy. The broken traces had solder mask scraped back so that jumper wires could bridge the damaged area and return the circuit to functionality.

From there, it was a simple matter of 3D printing a new case, and the controller was back in service. The case in question was designed by [Alexander Myrman], and has a neat little inset Mario design that’s made visible by paint-filling the inlay.

While it was an easy fix, to the uninitiated in the electronic arts, it might as well be magic. It pays to remember that there are always new people joining the electronics hobby, and projects like these are a great way to learn. It’s also important to note that bringing back old retro hardware is often of great value, as in many cases, they’re not making any more! We see some great restorations around these parts, too. Video after the break.

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Making A Left-Handed NES Controller

August 10, 2021 by Lewin Day 19 Comments

The controller for the original Nintendo Entertainment System is a classic, but perhaps not best known for its adherence to good ergonomic principles. Regardless, it can grow awkward to use for long stretches of time. To help alleviate this, [Taylor] whipped up an easy way to convert a NES controller to left-handed operation.

The mod board in question, installed on a NES controller PCB.

The crux of the hack is simple, with the controller’s buttons swapped left-to-right to enable the controller to be flipped upside down. In this orientation, the D-pad is used by the right hand and the action buttons by the left–the opposite of the usual way. Thus, left and right on the D-pad must be switched, as well as A and B, so all the controls are otherwise in a logical layout.

This is achieved through the use of a little mod board of [Taylor]’s own design. The original HD14021BP chip is desoldered from the controller’s PCB, and installed in the mod board instead. The modboard can then be soldered back into the controller, rerouting the traces to swap the buttons. There’s also a version that [Taylor] designed that can flip between right-handed and left-handed operation thanks to some onboard DIP switches.

It’s a tidy hack that could save the thumbs of some dedicated Tetris players. Alternatively, you can always make your own NES controller from scratch. Video after the break.

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A SNES Music Player You Can Control With A Browser

August 8, 2021 by Lewin Day 3 Comments

Listening to chiptunes on an emulator or software-based player is fine, but sometimes you just gotta have that real hardware charm. [Kazhuu] is one such enthusiast who feels this way, and set about building a hardware player for SNES chiptunes that can be controlled from a browser.

The build relies on an Arduino Micro to control the SNES Audio Processing Unit (APU), featuring the Nintendo S-SMP as produced by Sony and designed by Ken Kutaragi. Yes, the father of the PlayStation designed the capable wavetable synthesis chip in the Super Nintendo, and it’s that same hardware that [Kazhuu]’s project interfaces with modern hardware.

With the Arduino’s IO lines hooked up to the APU, song data can be piped out to the Arduino over a serial connection to a PC. This can be handled by a Python script, or more intuitively via a browser-based front-end. This uses WebUSB in order to take input from the browser and then send data out over the USB-serial connection to the Arduino.

It’s a neat demonstration of both working with vintage Nintendo sound hardware and how to code modern browser applications to work with embedded systems. If you’re a SEGA kid, though, you might prefer this build instead. Video after the break.

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Nintendo Zapper Reborn As Home Automation Remote

August 7, 2021 by Brian McEvoy 3 Comments

Generally, using a gun to turn your lights off is dangerous and expensive, but for the [DuctTape Mechanic], it’s just how he does things. Video also after the break. To be fair, he uses a salvaged Nintendo Zapper, not a firearm, and replaces the guts with an RF transmitter. We are shocked that he chose a radio model instead of infrared seeing as how he is repurposing a light gun, but our scores in Duck Hunt suggest he made the right choice.

The transmitter comes from a keychain remote, so it all fits neatly inside the Zapper chassis. A couple of wires hijack the stock button and run to the stock trigger, so you keep that authentic feel. The receiver side is a bit trickier. When it senses a button press, it sends a pulse, as you would find in a garage door opener, but to keep a lamp on, there needs to be some latching and so there is an Arduino. The microcontroller keeps a tally and operates a 10 amp relay module, so it is mostly acting as the glue between hardware. All of the mains electrical components sit in a blue plastic box with a receptacle on the front.

We don’t see the Zappers used for their intended purposes much anymore because they rely on old technology, but that doesn’t keep people from repurposing the iconic peripheral.

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Mega Man 4 Free of Charge ROM Hack Pexels Anete Lusina

Mega Man Hack Drops Charge Shot, Adds Classic Style

August 4, 2021 by Drew Littrell 3 Comments

When it comes to the six original Mega Man games there is a clear dividing line between the first three and the last. Mega Man 4 introduced the charging shot mechanic that allowed players to hold down the fire button in order to power-up a single blast from Mega Man’s arm cannon. The aptly named, “Mega Man 4: Free of Charge” ROM hack by [Peter] seeks to bring cohesion with the first trilogy of Mega Man games by removing the charge shot mechanic completely. To compensate for the change, enemy health bars were also adjusted so that enemies aren’t as bullet-spongy.

The Mega Man 4: Free of Charge download comes as an IPS patch file. There are free utilities out there like Floating IPS that can apply the patch file to a clean dump of a NES cartridge. This ROM hack is playable on original Nintendo Entertainment System hardware via a flashcart device, or it can be played by any common NES emulator like FCEUX or Nestopia.

One of the most annoying parts of Mega Man 4 (minus the difficulty) was the constant whir of the charge shot drowning out the brilliant soundtrack. With a patch like [Peter]’s this is no longer a going concern, and players are able to give their thumbs a bit of a break by not needing to continually hold down fire throughout a run. All welcomed changes aside, it still won’t change the fact that the Japanese TV commercial for the game is cooler than the print ads in the US.

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Rocket League Inspired Homebrew Reverses Onto Nintendo GameCube

August 3, 2021 by Drew Littrell 5 Comments

Would it have been too obvious to call a game about soccer playing RC cars, Soc-Car? Well [Martin] thought so and opted to call his Nintendo GameCube homebrew game, Retro League GX. The game clearly takes inspiration from Rocket League developed by Psyonix, as it pits teams of cars on a pitch plus comes complete with boosts to boot. There are some impressive physics on display here, and according to Krista over at GBATemp everything is playable on original hardware. Though those without a GameCube can certainly get a match in via the Dolphin emulator.

There are a number of ways to boot homebrew on a Nintendo GameCube, however, the most essential piece of software would be Swiss. Swiss is a homebrew utility that interfaces with all the myriad of ways to load code onto a GameCube these days. Common ways loading homebrew include saving files onto an SD card then using a SDGecko device that plugs into the memory card ports, or a SD2SP2 device that plugs into one of the GameCube’s expansion ports located on the bottom of the console. Those who prefer ditching the disc drive entirely can load homebrew via a optical disc emulator device like the GC Loader.

Still on the roadmap Retro League GX are ports for 3DS, PSP, Wii, and Linux. LAN and Online multiplayer are in the works as well. So at least that way GameCube broadband adapter owners may get to branch out beyond Phantasy Star Online for once. Best of all, [Martin] stated that the code for Retro League GX will be open sourced sometime next year.

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